Bay City Tourism Needs Boost: USS Edson, Lighthouse Would Help
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Say you're a family from somewhere in the Midwest driving around Michigan this summer. Where would you go?Casinos probably draw more visitors combined on a regular basis than any other attraction. So you may stop at one of the 13 casinos sucking up billions of dollars from wishful thinkers eager to strike it rich or at least "give some money to the Indians."
Forget the idea of a casino for Bay City. It won't happen. The City Commission has already decided not to pursue a gambling establishment as a basis for economic development. Besides, politically the Native American tribes running the other casinos would no doubt lobby powerfully to block any competition.
OK, where else would you go in Michigan?
1. Cabela's in Dundee. (The No. 1 attraction in Michigan, an incredible 3 million visitors a year.)
2. Frankenmuth. (1 million visitors a year.)
3. Mackinac Island.
4. Traverse City.
5. Muskegon, probably to the Michigan Adventure water park.
The Henry Ford, Greenfield Village, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Taquemenon Falls, the Soo Locks. The list of possibilities is long and alluring.
How and where does Bay City fit in?
Free boat rides on the Saginaw River are a big draw for Bay City.
Antique stores, chic boutiques and cool restaurants: not bad.
Conference business has started to flow at the DoubleTree Hotel - Bay City Riverfront, and sightseers are seen more often prowling the streets for diversion.
Trolley tours past historic mansions and the old Hell's Half Mile lumbering district and "ghost tours" have appeal for many.
(NOTE: Bay Metro Transit has announced the 1987 trolley used for historical tours will be phased out this summer and replaced by a modified bus "trolley replica vehicle." General Manager Mike Stoner says: "The trolley is 18 years old and has become very difficult to maintain. We have difficulty getting parts for it. Because of its design it is not very accessible to elderly and disabled persons either. But it is a popular sight and visitors have always seemed to prefer riding it when given the choice.")
The Bay County Historical Museum has outstanding galleries and displays. The old armory is a historic attraction in itself, having been the scene of a 1912 Republican Party state convention brawl that had to be put down by the state militia. The third party Bull Moose nomination of Teddy Roosevelt for President was the upshot of a nationwide split in the GOP reflected in the violence here. (Teddy had been President 1901-1909 but lost in 1912 to Democrat Woodrow Wilson.)
With all this going for Bay City why are we not at the top, or near the top, in tourism? The main reason isthat competition is fierce and other communities have a head start of up to 50 years or more.
But some local leaders feel Bay City is poised to challenge the leaders, probably with a combination of attractions that would be more irresistable to Michigan visitors. Lots of folks have their heart, soul and money in making Bay City a tourist town. That was the goal of a $30,000 WJR Radio one-day gig here recently, broadcasting our benefits to a huge Midwest listening audience.
Besides the attractions listed above, consider the possibilities of:The visitor-ready destroyer USS Edson, formerly a New York City museum, parked on the river as a floating tribute to the Defoe Shipbuilding Company's contribution to U.S. victory in World War II. Edson planners project up to 100,000 visitors a year for the ship.
The historic Saginaw River Rear Range Light spiffed up and open to the public, courtesy of The Dow Chemical Company and the Saginaw River Marine HistoricalSociety.
Other displays such as antique vehicle exhibits, wooden boat displays and maybe a Native American village like the one set up in Wenonah Park during the 1929 Northeastern Michigan Water Carnival.
There is talk of expanding the River of Time to include a huge outdoor drama, a pageant like that held in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Hope springs eternal that funds could be found to obtain the Presidential yacht Honey Fitz, now in Palm Beach, Florida, and to display the Defoe-built yacht here. It would be a tribute to both Defoe and to President John F. Kennedy.
In short, a combination of attractions is no doubt Bay City's best bet to establish tourism as a real economic force. However, the path to tourism success is strewn with obstacles. We still need a bell-ringer, or a bunch of them, to pull the traffic off the expressway into downtown Bay City.
Even the Edson is an elusive dream despite the contributions of hundreds of thousands of dollars, support of major funding organizations, years of work by organizers of the project and a specific reservation of the ship for Bay City in the federal budget, arranged by Sen. Carl Levin.
The Michigan DNR must approve the transfer of a riverfront boat launch site from Bay County to Bangor Township and the County Commission must give its final OK. Latest word is that the Michigan Waterways Commission is being asked to approve the transfer at its June 10 meeting. Stay tuned.###
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